Well, what do I have to say for myself now that I'm sleeping routinely in a warm bed? Was it everything I hoped it would be? Here's what I know. I know that whatever stirred me to do something like this isn't quite satisfied. I know that all I want to do is go and travel and even though this was crazy, I need something more. I need to keep taking myself into these odd challenges. I need something next. But this was a crazy and very worthwhile experience.
Like John said, I know a lot of people thought we were incredibly stupid and ruining our lives and I respect those people very much but they are not me or John, and I know that is why they didn't understand. On the other hand, we had an incredible amount of support from other people who I can't thank enough, namely the Glover's who gave us the most confidence in seeing this thing through and the greatest send off anyone could ask for.
Obviously I cannot speak for everyone in saying that its good to go out and flip your life upside down every once in a while, but I will say that life is way too short to fall asleep in the routine of the everyday. For me, I have to do this, and what I've learned from this experience is that I'm not at all content unless I feel saturated with experiences that are constantly writing an incredible story for me. Whether it's living in a car or living in Australia, I have this desire to see everything, to do everything. I just can't reconcile living a life where I'm settling on something that will get me by.
I know this is typical thinking of a twenty-something, and maybe as time goes by this desire will fade, but that seems like an immense tragedy. I get frustrated when I'm in one place too long because I feel like there's so much more to do or see. Four years of college was obviously killing me, hence the car living experience.
Here's all I'm saying. I feel like God designed us to be explorers, to turn every moment in our hands holding it up to the light, constantly discovering, constantly learning, but never taking it for granted as normal or common. There is an intense restlessness that aches through me whenever I feel stagnate and I know that I will always have to be looking for the "living in the car" moment. I realize people say you can't live on the mountain top, and that is not what I'm trying to do, I simply refuse to set up a comfortable 3 bedroom raised ranch in the valley looking up at the mountain everyday wondering what it would be like up there.
Essentially all I really want is life to the full. I think that is why I follow Christ because I believe that in him is really life to the full. Even if I make it to the 73.4 years of age, that's far to short to be settling on a life that is just enough. For me, life to the full is mobile and constant and malleable. So now I guess all that is left is to figure out what is next.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
It's Goodbye
Ahh. The culmination of a semester is knocking. Jon and I haven't been spending as much time in the 4 Runner as we would have liked. It is hard to want to sleep in there when freezing rain has had it's way with your blankets and sleeping bag. We didn't know the extent of the damage until two days ago. There is literally a sheet of ice covering the back of the 4 Runner. The sleeping quarters have been rendered in-hospitible. Our friend Jacob has been more than hospitible. Overall, I would say that the semester was a success. I know that there were doubters, haters per say. Jon and I got it done though.
I would like to throw a shout out to our friends at ISU who are going to attempt the same feat. It was worth it in the end. Jon and I only had to suffer through 3 weeks of winter. You ISUers are gong to go at it in the heart of winter. Just know that cold feet can only slow a man down. Frosty windows can only temporarily construct your vision. Frozen food will eventually thaw. Sleeping bags though frozen will eventually warm. You guys can do it and we have total faith. Good luck.
I would like to throw a shout out to our friends at ISU who are going to attempt the same feat. It was worth it in the end. Jon and I only had to suffer through 3 weeks of winter. You ISUers are gong to go at it in the heart of winter. Just know that cold feet can only slow a man down. Frosty windows can only temporarily construct your vision. Frozen food will eventually thaw. Sleeping bags though frozen will eventually warm. You guys can do it and we have total faith. Good luck.
Monday, December 15, 2008
The 4runner has turned into a giant ice sculpture. For some reason, perhaps in my youth induced belief that I am invincible to harm, I forgot to equip myself with an ice scraper so at the moment I cannot break through the several layers of ice on my windshield. Therefore the 4runner is stranded in Q-lot rather than safely at home in the CSC parking lot. This also means, as the police officer pointed out to me previously, that a decent amount of freezing rain got in through the back window and froze the edge of the blankets to the glass. However, since it's finals week my normal sleeping patterns are disrupted by all-nighters so I wasn't sleeping in the car when the freezing rain hit.
This expirement concludes on Thursday at which point the 4runner will return home and resume its vocation as a primary transport vehcle rather than a bed. These next nights will be about the coldest its been so it'll be a nice way to go out (by that I don't mean die). While the winter is rough, it doesn't seem too far fetched to do it for a whole year if I had that long, but praise God that I am life isn't that cruel to me.
This expirement concludes on Thursday at which point the 4runner will return home and resume its vocation as a primary transport vehcle rather than a bed. These next nights will be about the coldest its been so it'll be a nice way to go out (by that I don't mean die). While the winter is rough, it doesn't seem too far fetched to do it for a whole year if I had that long, but praise God that I am life isn't that cruel to me.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Resolution
Just a rumor and not a confirmed account, but apparently the gunmen went to Island Cafe to have some martinis after they robbed the store and that's how they got caught. I don't know what to say. Pretty ashamed of being mistaken for those guys.
Monday, December 8, 2008
The Usual Suspects
I've realized through various encounters while some people look like movie stars or musicians or athletes, I apparently look like a criminal. This has amounted in people randomly asking me for weed or calling me a stoner but not until now has it landed me a small detainment by the police as a suspect in an armed robbery.
There is much to tell so this may be long. Get a cup of coffee, pause the TIVO, put the pizza in the oven, whatever you got to do.
John and I were leaving Ali's apartment on Friday when a security guard stopped us before getting into the 4runner.
"I'm the complex security guard and I just wanted to warn you that there was an armed robbery about two blocks from here by a man in a stocking cap and a blue shirt using a revolver so if you see anything notify us, ok?"
We nodded thinking it funny that he used the word revolver like we were accusing Colonel Mustard in the Kitchen. We headed across the street to go to our other friends apartment. I pulled in and parked the car and we ran inside to pick up an xbox. We were there no more than 2 minutes but when we came out we saw two cop cars parked behind my 4runner shining flashlights into the back. For some reason I raised my hand like I was asking a question in class and said "That's my car." We walked up to the cop car and he asked us where we were coming from. We told him and they asked for our IDs.
"Is this about that robbery? Some security guy told us about it just before we left." I asked.
He said yes and then rolled up his window to check our IDs. John only had a hoody on so he was freezing and decided to go inside and wait while they processed our licences, leaving me to stand there and wait for the cop. Suddenly cops started to materialize out of nowhere. A cop appeared behind me like he came out of the bushes (a friend said later that the cop car came flying off the road cutting right over the lawn to get to the parking lot). Another cop car pulled up on the other side of the cars and turned his lights on me. Then another one came casually strolling up towards me, slowly pulling open his jacket like he was trying to show me his gun and then shined the flashlight in my eyes.
"How's it going?" he said like we were good pals. "Not bad, how about you." I returned,smiling, holding my hand over my eyes. "Just fine." he said. It was a real nice exchange. I'm glad he needed to shine the flashlight in my eyes for that conversation. Total I think there were six cops. I was about to ask him how the wife and kids were when John came back out. Suddenly another cop car pulled up real slow like a predatory lion ready to pounce on us. It had the worlds brightest flood light forged in the depths of hell from the souls of heinous murderers and people who cheated on monopoly. The light was shining us right in the eyes.
"Stand shoulder to shoulder back to the squad car," came a cold command. Now, it seemed at this point that we were a pretty big deal so I guess I was anticipating the cuffs or something because I thought what he wanted was for us to put our hands on the car. John thought the same thing so he asked for clarity. "What?"
"Turn around and face the car and stand shoulder to shoulder." He said again. We slowly turned and faced the car. I stood up straight trying to present the best impression of myself for whoever was in the car. Apparently, the witness of the crime was sizing us up from the safety of the squad car, trying to ID the criminal. We stood there for a good 30 seconds while this light viciously burned a hole through our retinas. Finally, just as it came, the lion went slowly slinking backwards, killing the light and disappearing into the dark. "Did you hear the negative on the radio traffic?" My new friend the cop asked the other. "Yeah. Go ahead." So all the cops got back in their cars and drove away save the one who had our IDs. I guess even though there was a gunman on the loose there is always time for basic citations.
"So, Jonathan, what's the deal with your expired temporary plates?" He said still sitting in his squad car. I really couldn't believe it. I began rehearsing in my head a rant about the absurd priorities of the law in case he gave me a ticket. "I'm just waiting for the plates to come in the mail." I said. "You can check that out at your local SOS." he explained. I didn't get the acronym but said "thanks" anyways. There was a small silence as if he was contemplating something and then he spoke again.
"Alright, well I don't mean to pry but it looks like you're living out of your car." I hesitated for a second ready for an awkward explanation. "Tell him" John said under his breath. Now It's not that I was at all preparing to lie to the cop, but I was contemplating the use of a very general and vague explanation, but instead I listened to John. "Yeah I am. It's not that I'm poor or anything. It's just that this is my ninth semester and I wanted to do something crazy." He kind of half laughed and nodded. "So where are you living?" Again I hesitated for a second not knowing if there were going to be consequences for my next words. If I was going to wake up tomorrow with the familiar fleet of police peering in through my window. "Well, you know CSC? I talked to the owner and he said it was alright for me to park there." I said.
"It looks like your window doesn't go up all the way. That could let in a cold draft." he said pointing with his pen toward the back window.
"Yeah, we found a lot of snow in there once. It can get cold but we're prepared." I said. He looked up at it and said, "Well, be safe because it does get pretty cold out here."
"Thanks" I said. "We got plenty of blankets and stuff so we're ok."
"Alright, well I'm going to write you a written warning for your plates and you'll have to go to your local SOS to check it out." John, still freezing decided he was done. "Is it alright if I start the car he said." The cop confirmed and John went over the 4runner.
For some reason I like to make conversation with cops, maybe so they know that they aren't scaring me, but since he didn't seem to care where I was living I decided use the flexibility for knowledge.
"Hey while I got you here, let me ask you," I said. "when I was first hatching this plan back in the summer I had heard that you can do this kind of thing in the Wal-Mart parking lot. You know, park your RV or whatever and live there for a bit. Do you know if that's legal at all?"
"Oh, I don't know about that at all. You'd have to check that out." Suddenly the 4runner turned the engine and then jumped as it died. John laughed. "Do you remember how to drive stick." I called back. It started, and then lurched again John still laughing. "Yeah I drove it today." I looked at the cop and he was laughing quietly. "Alright, you're free to go." He handed me the ticket and we drove out of there.
There is much to tell so this may be long. Get a cup of coffee, pause the TIVO, put the pizza in the oven, whatever you got to do.
John and I were leaving Ali's apartment on Friday when a security guard stopped us before getting into the 4runner.
"I'm the complex security guard and I just wanted to warn you that there was an armed robbery about two blocks from here by a man in a stocking cap and a blue shirt using a revolver so if you see anything notify us, ok?"
We nodded thinking it funny that he used the word revolver like we were accusing Colonel Mustard in the Kitchen. We headed across the street to go to our other friends apartment. I pulled in and parked the car and we ran inside to pick up an xbox. We were there no more than 2 minutes but when we came out we saw two cop cars parked behind my 4runner shining flashlights into the back. For some reason I raised my hand like I was asking a question in class and said "That's my car." We walked up to the cop car and he asked us where we were coming from. We told him and they asked for our IDs.
"Is this about that robbery? Some security guy told us about it just before we left." I asked.
He said yes and then rolled up his window to check our IDs. John only had a hoody on so he was freezing and decided to go inside and wait while they processed our licences, leaving me to stand there and wait for the cop. Suddenly cops started to materialize out of nowhere. A cop appeared behind me like he came out of the bushes (a friend said later that the cop car came flying off the road cutting right over the lawn to get to the parking lot). Another cop car pulled up on the other side of the cars and turned his lights on me. Then another one came casually strolling up towards me, slowly pulling open his jacket like he was trying to show me his gun and then shined the flashlight in my eyes.
"How's it going?" he said like we were good pals. "Not bad, how about you." I returned,smiling, holding my hand over my eyes. "Just fine." he said. It was a real nice exchange. I'm glad he needed to shine the flashlight in my eyes for that conversation. Total I think there were six cops. I was about to ask him how the wife and kids were when John came back out. Suddenly another cop car pulled up real slow like a predatory lion ready to pounce on us. It had the worlds brightest flood light forged in the depths of hell from the souls of heinous murderers and people who cheated on monopoly. The light was shining us right in the eyes.
"Stand shoulder to shoulder back to the squad car," came a cold command. Now, it seemed at this point that we were a pretty big deal so I guess I was anticipating the cuffs or something because I thought what he wanted was for us to put our hands on the car. John thought the same thing so he asked for clarity. "What?"
"Turn around and face the car and stand shoulder to shoulder." He said again. We slowly turned and faced the car. I stood up straight trying to present the best impression of myself for whoever was in the car. Apparently, the witness of the crime was sizing us up from the safety of the squad car, trying to ID the criminal. We stood there for a good 30 seconds while this light viciously burned a hole through our retinas. Finally, just as it came, the lion went slowly slinking backwards, killing the light and disappearing into the dark. "Did you hear the negative on the radio traffic?" My new friend the cop asked the other. "Yeah. Go ahead." So all the cops got back in their cars and drove away save the one who had our IDs. I guess even though there was a gunman on the loose there is always time for basic citations.
"So, Jonathan, what's the deal with your expired temporary plates?" He said still sitting in his squad car. I really couldn't believe it. I began rehearsing in my head a rant about the absurd priorities of the law in case he gave me a ticket. "I'm just waiting for the plates to come in the mail." I said. "You can check that out at your local SOS." he explained. I didn't get the acronym but said "thanks" anyways. There was a small silence as if he was contemplating something and then he spoke again.
"Alright, well I don't mean to pry but it looks like you're living out of your car." I hesitated for a second ready for an awkward explanation. "Tell him" John said under his breath. Now It's not that I was at all preparing to lie to the cop, but I was contemplating the use of a very general and vague explanation, but instead I listened to John. "Yeah I am. It's not that I'm poor or anything. It's just that this is my ninth semester and I wanted to do something crazy." He kind of half laughed and nodded. "So where are you living?" Again I hesitated for a second not knowing if there were going to be consequences for my next words. If I was going to wake up tomorrow with the familiar fleet of police peering in through my window. "Well, you know CSC? I talked to the owner and he said it was alright for me to park there." I said.
"It looks like your window doesn't go up all the way. That could let in a cold draft." he said pointing with his pen toward the back window.
"Yeah, we found a lot of snow in there once. It can get cold but we're prepared." I said. He looked up at it and said, "Well, be safe because it does get pretty cold out here."
"Thanks" I said. "We got plenty of blankets and stuff so we're ok."
"Alright, well I'm going to write you a written warning for your plates and you'll have to go to your local SOS to check it out." John, still freezing decided he was done. "Is it alright if I start the car he said." The cop confirmed and John went over the 4runner.
For some reason I like to make conversation with cops, maybe so they know that they aren't scaring me, but since he didn't seem to care where I was living I decided use the flexibility for knowledge.
"Hey while I got you here, let me ask you," I said. "when I was first hatching this plan back in the summer I had heard that you can do this kind of thing in the Wal-Mart parking lot. You know, park your RV or whatever and live there for a bit. Do you know if that's legal at all?"
"Oh, I don't know about that at all. You'd have to check that out." Suddenly the 4runner turned the engine and then jumped as it died. John laughed. "Do you remember how to drive stick." I called back. It started, and then lurched again John still laughing. "Yeah I drove it today." I looked at the cop and he was laughing quietly. "Alright, you're free to go." He handed me the ticket and we drove out of there.
I'm guessing that the security officer at Ali's apartment complex saw my hat and thought I might be the guy but was too afraid to detain me there so he must've called it in. Otherwise I don't know how two cops would be poking around my car only two minutes later when there was a parking lot full of suspected vehicles. It couldn't have been random. All in all, it was a hilarious night and John and I were laughing the whole time. I obviously didn't take a revolver into some small town store and rob the place so we never had anything to worry about. I don't know if they caught the guy, newspapers didn't say anything about it, but knowing the fine gentlemen of the MPD out here, he's probably flipping his revolver around his finger counting his 27 dollars thinking he's a pretty smooth criminal.
Also, SOS stands for Security of State. Took me a while but I got it.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Mas Snow
It's a little worse than I said. I came back to the car yesterday and there was a semi-substantial amount of snow that had blown into the back of the car onto the bed leaving a few blankets covered at the ends. It was pretty hilarious. Last night was freezing. It took me a good half hour to successfully cacoon myself into my sleeping bag and two blankets until I was comfortable. After that I was incredibly warm and slept close to 9 solid hours and woke up warm too. Its just the getting in and the waking up that is frigid. I went for a drink from my water bottle and found a giant block of ice instead. But I'm still warm at night and it's still all good.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Snow
Something I didn't think of previously confronted me with the arrival of the first snow. Before when we would take our cars out for the weekend or break, there was no trace of someone living in their cars in the parking lot. No evidence. Now, there are small yellow circles and puddles in the snow that are too obvious to be ignored. So I've decided next time I'm not going to hide the fact that God has blessed me as a male with the sacred ability to use the natural lavatory; I'm going to write my name in the snow. Like marking my territory so all can know, Jon Rand lives here, don't mess. (I might even write all that if I drink enough water).
It's been a while since we've updated, not much has happened. I wake up and I can scrape my name in the frost that's on the window inside the car. The back window can't go up all the way so there's about an inch or two gap that allows cold breezes and snow drifts inside. It makes for an interesting stay. Even though I see my breath when I go to sleep and I wake up surrounded by an inch of frost, the nights are still just as warm. I sleep better here than I did when I was at home for break.
Also the emergency break doesn't work so If we want to run the car for a bit I have to chock the wheels and then slip it in neutral otherwise I lay down and find myself on the other side of the parking lot which is a slight exaggeration but still happened. I got halfway.
nothing else too exciting has happened. The cold gets pretty intense but its not too big of a deal. Still glad we're doing this but I don't mind the fact that it ends in three weeks. Turns out Christmas is going to be big this year and we're short on beds so I might be thrown out to sleep in my car over break to make room (not really. My parent's aren't that cold hearted. But I'll probably do it anyway). At this point I just want to graduate and then play hockey, snow football, snowboard, play music, and pretend that I don't need to be looking for a job.
Also, the snow has revealed that John is more hydrated then I am.
It's been a while since we've updated, not much has happened. I wake up and I can scrape my name in the frost that's on the window inside the car. The back window can't go up all the way so there's about an inch or two gap that allows cold breezes and snow drifts inside. It makes for an interesting stay. Even though I see my breath when I go to sleep and I wake up surrounded by an inch of frost, the nights are still just as warm. I sleep better here than I did when I was at home for break.
Also the emergency break doesn't work so If we want to run the car for a bit I have to chock the wheels and then slip it in neutral otherwise I lay down and find myself on the other side of the parking lot which is a slight exaggeration but still happened. I got halfway.
nothing else too exciting has happened. The cold gets pretty intense but its not too big of a deal. Still glad we're doing this but I don't mind the fact that it ends in three weeks. Turns out Christmas is going to be big this year and we're short on beds so I might be thrown out to sleep in my car over break to make room (not really. My parent's aren't that cold hearted. But I'll probably do it anyway). At this point I just want to graduate and then play hockey, snow football, snowboard, play music, and pretend that I don't need to be looking for a job.
Also, the snow has revealed that John is more hydrated then I am.
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